Gaming companies exist in conditions fierce competition for the attention of the players and their willingness to invest time and financial resources in the product. Although the demand is great, but all new developments – plots, engines and graphics, make race for consumer love …
Everyone does it in their own way, for example, at a casual games distributor company BigFishGames motto “New game every day” , and they are very good at following their principle, cooperating with 500 development companies … French company Ubisoft wins thanks to the detail of the game world and high-quality modeling of the game character.
The price for developing a 3D character depends on:
- number of concepts and renders;
- character details;
- amount of edits for the selected concept;
- the timing of the project.
The average price for modeling a game character is 45 thousand hryvnia. It can change depending on the size of the hero and the amount of work.
GAME CHARACTER CREATION: GENRE AND SPECIES
Modeling the game character as the main character
It has predetermined characteristics: age, appearance, character and plot role. Unless we are talking about life simulators – Sims. The more thoughtful and complex the plot, the brighter the personality and image of the developed character.
Development of a playable character for fighting games and simulations
The developers simulate a playable character with unique characteristics that other characters do not have. The player carries out selection of the main character depending on the requirements of the mission and your own sympathies.
Make a character for strategies
Units are being worked out with high quality , the player may not even notice how many hours of work were spent on weapon parts , but true amateurs take a close look at the kinetics and textures of each warrior.
GAME CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: HERO APPEARANCE
Make a character for mobile games
It could be low poly or hand drawn hero , which will fit perfectly into the plot of a mobile game. Its image is often schematic and does not require detailing in working out the image and character.
Create 2D character
In casual quest games, they are especially important. First, the players it is the plot that attracts , and hence the story of the protagonist. Poorly designed characters will alienate fans of this genre. Secondly, games of this type take a minimum of time (they can be completed in 4-5 hours) and weigh very little from 600 MB to 1.5 GB, so creating 3D characters is rare. These are either 2D characters or stylized videos with real people.
Modeling a 3D character
Suitable for games where it will take more than one week and a lot of effort to complete. In addition to the character in games of this scale, a huge interactive world and branched storyline.
Uniqueness in the development of game characters
Heroes and their stories are worked out so thoroughly that it develops into series of by-products , a Japanese company Square enix produces full films on the stories of the game series Final Fantasy.
In a competitive environment, you will hardly surprise anyone with realistic graphics, so many companies stand out for their unusual graphic solutions and modeling 3D characters in comic style, such as in a shooter Borderlands 2 from Gearbox Software …
PRINCIPLES OF CREATING A GAME CHARACTER
Reach for emotional attachment
The user often associates himself with the heroes of the game and their stories. Therefore, when 3D modeling characters, you need to take into account the landmarks – on actions of the protagonist , on his affection for the area and whether he is motivated … Compliance with such criteria will allow you to make a character with high quality.
Avoid the “evil valley” effect
Robotics Masahiro Mori discovered that the more human traits a robot or doll acquires, the more disgust and dislike appears in a person …
Observe metric in character development
Determining the size and height of a character is possible only in comparison with something in the game world: a tree, a house or an animal. For correct creation, you need to constantly take into account character parameters and characteristics of the environment. For example, stride width, movement speed, jump range and attack radius. Just once, having learned the parameters of the character, the player will already by eye determine the available distance and actions of the character.
Use visual effects
They enrich the gameplay, make the animation realistic and understandable. The chanterelle’s tail and ears twitch when running, the main villain’s cloak flutters when walking, the color of the wet fabric changes. You also need to follow change of character’s emotions in the development of the plot. The image below shows a girl, her beloved sister was killed in the story just half an hour ago, but her face is surprisingly happy and static throughout the events of the game world.
HOW TO MAKE A 3D GAME CHARACTER
Drawing up a technical task for modeling a game character
At this stage idea is given , as a rule, this is a verbal (textual) description or a rough sketch of the character’s image. Same way key technical points are discussed: name, gender, age, intelligence, profession, vocabulary and background of the character.
Marketing Research in 3D Character Design
Stands out the target audience and her main preferences. This will help determine the color scheme for the hero and his personality traits.
Search for references
Collecting information about character anatomy and kinetics , color gamut analysis and texture selection.
Development of 5 design concepts in character creation
Character style is being refined – hairstyle, clothing and personal items. At this stage, it is better not to cling to a successful image, but to work out as many options as possible. You also need to take care of the “readability” of the hero’s image, if the silhouette is recognizable and looks impressive , then the concept of the character is worked out correctly.
Refinement of the selected concept
Refinement of the selected concept for modeling a 3D character is detailing clothes, inventory and visually clarifying their interaction with the hero. It is also necessary to draw the character in poses inherent in his character and create an emotion map … The material will help create a 3D model …
Visualization of the 3D character of the game
The final drawing of the character’s features, the model is divided into polygroups, the main body parts are highlighted, texture maps to pass model properties.
Studio KLONA will model an unforgettable playable character.
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